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Black Swan
| season = 1 | episode = 4 | aired = October 15, 2009 | writer = Lisa Zwerling Scott Gimple | director = Michael Rymer | guest_cast = Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Debbie Justin Dray as Meade Rizwan Manji as Maneesh Sandhar Sean O'Bryan as Father Seabury Keir O'Donnell as Ned Ned Arjay Smith as Louis Peggy Stewart as Secretary Adam Tsekhman as Vlad Kathy Vara as TV Reporter Elizabeth Pea as Sally Julia Wackenheim as Cashier Girl | co-starring = Barry Shabaka Henley as Agent Vreede Rachel Roberts as Alda Hertzog Lennon Wynn as Charlie Ryan Wynott as Dylan Simcoe Lee Thompson Young as Agent Gough | uncredited = Dominic Monaghan as Simon }} Black Swan is the fourth episode of season one of FlashForward. It aired on October 15, 2009. Summary October 6, 2009 The GBO is revisited in the form of a flashback. This time, there is a slow motion scene of a park where people begin to blackout. A bus crashes into a lake and is submerged underwater. While underwater, a man takes off his headphones and helps another women swim to the surface. This man later checks himself into the hospital under the care of Bryce and Olivia. Bryce asks what he saw in his flashforward, to which he replies that he was confident and happy. He is in a club that he has always wanted to visit. In the mirror he sees himself as a black man, which is the result of a pigment disorder he has called Addison's disease. Mark and Demetri Chase Suspect Mark and Demetri chase a suspect out of a restaurant, through a trailer court until they finally catch him. During the chase, the suspect drops one of his necklaces. On the chain is a chalice and the word "Pimp". They find a tin box labeled "Yellow Cake". It turns out to be marijuana. The suspect says that his flash showed him rich from selling drugs. Mark and Demetri get into an arguement about the way each is investigating the GBO with Demetri punching Mark. Demetri tells Mark about March 15, the day he is to get shot and killed from three bullets in the chest. Ned Ned Before Surgery Prior to Ned Ned going into surgery, Bryce reminds him of the risks. Ned Ned says, as he did earlier, that he is not afraid and feels that all the worrying from the past is gone. He says that in six months he will have confidence. Knowing the future has changed him. Nicole Visits Father Seabury Nicole walks into Father Seabury's office while he is on the phone. He has crickets in his office. Nicole tells Father Seabury she wants to do some volunteer work. Father Seabury says that they are full up because events like GBO brings people to want to help. Father Seabury asks Nicole to explain why she wants to volunteer. Nicole has a flash of her in water struggling. After the flash she asks Father Seabury how is she suppose to ask for forgiveness for something she hasn't done yet. Nicole says that in her flash she felt like she was being punished. She asks Father Seabury if he thought God made this happen. He says that it would be hard to believe a divining hand wasn't involved. Father Seabury gives Nicole a phone number for Audrey Ridgeway, the volunteer coordinator. He offers her a T-shirt then gets up and walks away. "We're About To Kill Our Patient" Bryce searches the term pigment change on the Internet. When he gets the results he looks troubled. He goes to Ned Ned's room to find him gone. Bryce asks the nurse where Ned Ned went. She says he went to the OR. Bryce quickly walks out of the room say, "We're about to kill our patient". The OR Bryce tells Olivia that he knows what is wrong with Ned Ned. He recalls all the information Ned Ned told them when he checked into the hospital about his flash. From his Internet search, Bryce says that Ned Ned has Addison's Disease. Olivia and Bryce get into an argument. Olivia refers to the "here and now" as why she needs to proceed with the surgery. Bryce continues to talk about Ned Ned's flash and that Olivia is burying her head in the sand because of her flash. Olivia becomes annoyed with Bryce and tells him not to scrub for the procedure. While surgery is is progress, Ned suffers heart failure. Olivia realizes that Bryce was right in his diagnosis and orders an infusion of Hydrocortisone. Ned's heartbeat is restored and he recovers. Lloyd Visits Dylan's Room On Olivia's suggestion, Lloyd goes to his wife's house and through Dylan's room. When Lloyd enters the house there is mail on the floor. He walks through the living room and looks at a picture of Dylan and his mom. In the dining room there is a basket of washed clothes ready to be folded. In the kitchen, he finds a calendar with pictures and appointments on the days of Tuesday through Friday. Saturday, Sunday and Monday are left blank except for two days. One is Saturday 3rd. There is a birthday party? at 2 pm scheduled. On Sunday 11th, there is a BBQ at 1 pm. There is one picture of Lloyd, Dylan and his wife holding hands. In Dylan's bedroom, a bear with boxing gloves is focused on. Dylan has drawn a picture of his family, him and his mother. Lloyd finds a book titled "A Modern Magician's Handbook" by Marian Green. Dylan's bedspread is of a Star Wars scene with Yoda prominent. Surgery Problem During the surgery, one of the doctors asks if anyone had been to Grand Rounds today. He says a guy from Yale said he could enhance memory of flash fowards using a calcinar antagonist. Trivia General *A scene early in the episode has Mark Benford, using an English accent, acting out a role as Eggbert the Egg for his daughter Charlie. When Olivia enters the room, he drops the egg and she jokingly refers to him as Shakespeare. One of the most well known roles played by actor Joseph Fiennes, who plays Mark Benford, was as William Shakespeare in the popular film Shakespeare in Love. Music * "It's Oh So Quiet" by Bjork. (A bus plunges into a lake during the flash forward). * "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton. (Ned 'rocks leather pants' in his flash forward). * "Look What You've Done To Me" by IKO.( Lloyd enters the his ex-wife's home and explores Dyan's room). Cultural References *Alda Herzog tells Mark Benford that Black Swan is a metaphor referring to a high impact event that is beyond human understanding. The use of the metaphor comes from the 17th century when the scientific assumption that all swans were white was overturned by the discovery of black swans in Australia. A book published in 2007 by Nassim Taleb entitled The Black Swan''was built upon and helped popularize this premise, which is now referred to as The Black Swan Theory. The book maintains that our culture is negatively impacted by "our blindness with respect to randomness, particularly large deviations." Taleb argues that, particularly in the realms of science, politics, and economics, we rely too much on inductive reasoning and the presumed predictability of future events on the basis of past ones. We thus fail to expect, or prepare for, the unexpected. *The character Ned Ned joins the company of a few other fictional characters with the same first and last names. For example: Wilson Wilson, the somewhat strange neighbor in ''Home Improvement; Humbert Humbert, the obsessed narrator in Lolita; and, of course, Major Major Major Major, the character who is continually battling bureaucracy in Catch-22. Here, Ned appears to be the antithesis of Major Major, who became so riddled with anxiety that he became a recluse and only went in and out of his office by climbing through a window. Unanswered Questions General *What is the significance of the necklace (chalice with the word "Pimp") dropped by the suspect Mark and Demetri were chasing? *Is there any significance to the unusual hobby of cricket keeping enjoyed by the priest Nicole Kirby visits? *Who was drowning Nicole? *What is Simon's role in the Global Blackout? *What is Lloyd's role in the Global Blackout? FBI Office *Who is 'Celia'? *Who is Alda Hertzog, and who does she work for? Flashes Category:Aaron Stark Episodes Category:Bryce Varley Episodes Category:Demetri Noh Episodes Category:Lloyd Simcoe Episodes Category:Mark Benford Episodes Category:Nicole Kirby Episodes Category:Olivia Benford Episodes Category:Stanford Wedeck Episodes Category:Al Gough Episodes Category:Charlie Benford Episodes Category:Dylan Simcoe Episodes 104